The Roma match has convinced me...

[Bill]

we have an incredible batch of kids. the future is looking good for our club. these kids will save us millions.

 

[Metalartin]

Over the 2 games so far Barker seems the furthest from the first team which was a surprise to me. It just seems like he is a tad more nervous and a tad more unsure of his positioning.

I'm sure he'll have a great career but imo he needs to shake out those nerves if he wants to excel. Easiest way to do that imo is to run around like a crazed lunatic. Even if he's in the wrong place at the wrong time at least he's too busy to be self conscious. (Why am I still typing and not in bed....

I think it would be harsh to criticize him so early on, besides Garcia all the other Academy players have been out on loan and already experienced the step up to first team/full professional football, where Barker hasn't. If you consider that I think he's done well, Roma put out an experienced squad and were very competitive(friendly or not they wanted to win), he did a lovely roulette spin after winning the ball back and played a nice 1-2 with Lopes which was one of the best pieces of play in the match for me(Navas should have cut it back to Nasri and it may have finished with a goal).

He looks a class apart in the youth league/EDS when I've seen him, all he needs is easing into professional football to find his feet at that level which some players need time with but I'm sure he can do it, it's not just because he's a Manchester lad I really think he has the potential to break through to the 1st team some day.

 

[mcfc1632]

I was amazed at how much he has grown this year looks strong and hard to knock off the ball - I hope he gets good time on the pitch this year.

This - what a unit Ichenacho is growing into - intelligent player as well with a football brain - loved his pass for the Sterling goal - would like to see him given a chance as the 3rd striker

 

[Neville Kneville]

only this...the penny dropped with me when the OP said i might be a "Dzeko bummer".......ffs........

Reading this thread now has convinced me that you & one or two thers are pig ignorant about the talent City have coming through, even when it's staring you in the face, & arrogant enough to assume everyone else in the thread is as totally fucking clueless as you are, when in actual fact quite a few on here have watched these kids develop & know what they are looking at.

No it isn't 'like the 80's' regarding kids coming through, you are right on that one, it's fucking better. Then we had one generation of kids, now we have many.

Instead of laughing at City fans who know about this, & putting people down, try watching a few of these kids play football. Then you'll realise what a complete dick you are making of yourself in this thread.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I think it would be harsh to criticize him so early on, besides Garcia all the other Academy players have been out on loan and already experienced the step up to first team/full professional football, where Barker hasn't. If you consider that I think he's done well, Roma put out an experienced squad and were very competitive(friendly or not they wanted to win), he did a lovely roulette spin after winning the ball back and played a nice 1-2 with Lopes which was one of the best pieces of play in the match for me(Navas should have cut it back to Nasri and it may have finished with a goal).

He looks a class apart in the youth league/EDS when I've seen him, all he needs is easing into professional football to find his feet at that level which some players need time with but I'm sure he can do it, it's not just because he's a Manchester lad I really think he has the potential to break through to the 1st team some day.

Barker imo has more game changing abiliy than any of the others barring perhaps Iheanacho, but he wasn't showing enough commitment in that 2nd half. Whether that's down to tiredness or something else I don't know, but I hope it's not just down to an inability to push himself hard enough, as that would be a terrible waste.

He has the talent to open up a team like Roma & the pace to cope with any of their runners, but only showed very small glimpses of it. I hope he has the passion to go with his talent because he could be very special indeed.

 

[yeah whatever !!]

haha might not of been a bandage, the old peepers aren't what they used to be :)

Could have been a big sandwich "!

 

[CityStu]

Over the 2 games so far Barker seems the furthest from the first team which was a surprise to me. It just seems like he is a tad more nervous and a tad more unsure of his positioning.

I'm sure he'll have a great career but imo he needs to shake out those nerves if he wants to excel. Easiest way to do that imo is to run around like a crazed lunatic. Even if he's in the wrong place at the wrong time at least he's too busy to be self conscious. (Why am I still typing and not in bed....

Barker did play out of position for much of the game against Melbourne. He's best when he has the ball at his feet and is able to run at or past defenders but he rarely got that opportunity as a striker as he was receiving the ball with his back to goal.

I wasn't able to watch the Roma game, but I'd suggest that's much better one to judge him on considering he was on the flank. He also improved notably against Melbourne when Unal came on and he was able to move to the left.

 

[cibaman]

Really enjoyable game, especially for a friendly.

Defence was pretty solid from open play. I was impressed with Mangala, thought he was dominant in the air and he looked comfortable on the ball. Kompany was ok, got caught in no man's land a few times and his long range passing was poor. Still not back to his best for me, I'm not convinced the dynamic between Kompany and Mangala is correct, even though they're both good defenders. Kolarov didn't have a good game for me and we need an upgrade on him this summer. Sagna was energetic down the right hand side, but stopped and passed the ball backwards far too often for my liking. Denayer was very comfortable when he came on, great range of passing and read the play well. I'd never heard of Horsfield before, but he was solid and I like that he was confident enough to take a penalty (and score it).

I liked that we play a midfield trio again, I think it suits us. Garcia was the star in the first half, absolutely brilliant performance from a 17 year old. So much potential it's scary. Fernando played well, defends the back four well and is solid in the tackle. Zuculini didn't impress me much and I'm not sure he'll make it here. Garcia completed overshadowed him and Garcia is 5 years younger. Second half, Yaya strolled it playing in front of the back four. Bit of a change from last season's box-to-box role, but I thought Yaya was great there and he looked bang up for it. Nasri went missing, barely touched the ball, had very little impact IMO. If we sign de Bruyne, I can see Nasri leaving. Lopes was extremely comfortable running with the ball, some nice link-up play and a great penalty. Navas frustrated me, but Navas always frustrates me. He's quick, but his movement is so rigid, especially when you watch how fluid Sterling and Lopes are. No goal threat with Navas either, not sure how often he'll play next season.

David Silva was my man of the match. Flawless performance, it was a joy to watch him at times. He linked up really well with Sterling, whose movement was superb. Delighted that he got off the mark so early, nice finish too. Silva and Sterling will cause teams so many problems this season. I was surprised at how well Barker stepped up, he looked like he'd bulked up a little this summer and didn't look out of place at all.

Iheanacho looks good enough to be the third choice striker, can't argue with a goal and an assist against a full strength Roma side. He can drop deep and play some great passes, something Dzeko really can't do. Good finish for his goal, nice and composed. Aguero, Bony and Iheanacho is a good set of strikers.

Hart's penalty was amazing, but I'm not surprised Nasri didn't take a penalty, he's a complete bottler.

Set pieces were a worry. Roma were winning far too many headers in our box and, if that happens against West Brom, we will concede goals. I hope it's just the fact there were so many changes and that was obviously going to cause distruption. We're a tall team, we should be dominating at set pieces with the correct organisation.

Overall, a good performance. A game we would have won without two long range strikes from Roma, one being from a free kick. Glad to see the young players have such a good showing; Garcia, Iheanacho, Denayer, Lopes and Horsfield were all very good.

Good stuff, looking forward to the Real Madrid game on Friday where I reckon we'll field the strongest team we can.

I dont think Nasri would have thought that taking a penalty in a meaningless penalty shoot out in a pre season friendly required any bottle. More likely he had a slight knock or couldnt be bothered, especially when there were players like Hart who clearly wanted to take one, if only for the fun of it.

 

[Stephenhakin]

Garcia, Lopes, Nacho, Denayer have a great chance of being promoted. Anyone know when an announcement will be made with regards to this?

 

[SilverFox2]

I dont think Nasri would have thought that taking a penalty in a meaningless penalty shoot out in a pre season friendly required any bottle. More likely he had a slight knock or couldnt be bothered, especially when there were players like Hart who clearly wanted to take one, if only for the fun of it.

I think it is a good idea to allow any goalkeeper to be a penalty taker where it does not form part of the main game (ie no chance for a breakaway for any potential save etc.).

Not an expert on penalties or for that matter goalkeeping but I would have thought that Joe knows more about the psychological aspects of penalty taking than anyone else at City. He is used to being on the other end of the event so is unlikely to let his nerves takeover.

He may not be a striker but like all professional footballers he can hit a ball, it does not require any of the jinks twists and turns that make world class non goalies so he would always be in my list for a similar job especially with England.